Photo won't eliminate files from HD

Caiolentulo · May 9, 2018

Hi all, I just bought a new MacBook Pro Touch ID and switched to Photo from iPhoto, I deleted some 50gb of video and photos also on the recent folder of course, but they still hanging somewhere in the system, IPhoto had its own trash folder and files could be sent to the system one an then deleted, there is not such a thing on Photo?? please help I need some space on my new SSD, Thank you.

ferrarr · May 9, 2018

Photos, does have a recently deleted folder, that can be emptied, but will automatically self delete in 30 days.

IWT · May 9, 2018

And here is where you find it:

Open Photos app, make sure the sidebar is viewable (if not, Click on View > Show Sidebar).

This is what you will see:

"Recently Deleted" at bottom. This only shows up if there are deleted photos in it. Once deleted, or if it is empty, you will not see this.

Ian

Caiolentulo · May 9, 2018

I did delete from the "Recently Deleted" folder that's why I'm totally puzzled!

Andrea

IWT · May 9, 2018

Thanks for the rapid response, Andrea.

Just a thought. Do you use Time Machine?

If yes, is the Time Machine External Hard Drive attached?

I ask because TM takes snapshots of your OS and stores them on your Mac's HD till you next connect the TM EHD. At that point, the snapshots should pass over to TM and be deleted from hour Mac's HD.

It could be that the space is being taken up by these snapshots of your photos prior to deletion.

And as you say you've just bought the Mac, I'm assuming it's running macOS High Sierra - and that means the File System on your SSD is Apple File System (APFS). That too can apparently add to the problem of snapshots and Time Machine.

The same applies if you are using a cloned backup, especially Carbon Copy Cloner.

Ian

Caiolentulo · May 9, 2018

Hi Ian thanks for your time, I'm not attached to Time Machine yet, my Mac arrived yesterday and I'm trying to adjust to high Sierra, for now I'm just working on my photos and videos for a bit of a clean up.
I had a MacBook Pro early 2011 which worked wonderfully for 7 years and all of a sudden burnt the graphic card, I took out the HD placed it in a case and transferred the iPhoto library into Photo in the new Mac, nearly 700gb, it took about 8hrs. What I'm doing exactly it's transferring some GB on an external drive to make some room and then delete them from Photo, it is this deletion that it's not working... I had 220gb left in my ssd and still have the same amount after deleting nearly 60gb

Another thing that doesn't make sense is that I have 3 libraries now after I imported the one from iPhoto and the total size is over the capacity of my SSD which is 1TB.. see screenshots below, it is in Italian (I'm writing from Rome) but should be pretty easy to understand.

IWT · May 9, 2018

Hello again, Andrea.

This is what I think the situation is:

You had an iPhoto library of around 682GB.

You migrated that into Photos which stands at 629GB plus close to 5GB.

Not quite sure why you two Photos Libraries, but I can explain the iPhoto situation.

When I did as you and imported my iPhoto library into the new Photos library, 2 things I noticed -

1. The new Photos library was, in GB, slightly less than that which had been in iPhoto. This can best be explained by the way the two apps work and perhaps in the change of file system too (HFS+ to APFS).

2. The import of iPhoto into Photos was, in fact, a copy - that is the images were copied from one to the other - not moved. And this applied to everyone. The iPhoto library remained and we all found out that, provided your new Photos library was intact and working, the iPhoto library could safely be deleted.

For those of a cautious mind, they moved, rather than deleted the iPhoto library, to an External Hard Drive (EHD). I deleted mine and regained all that space.

So you have a choice: move the iPhoto library to an EHD or delete it. Either way, around 682GB of space is recovered.

That leaves you with the new Photos library. Here again there are choices:

You can try moving selected pictures from it to an EHD - not my idea of a best plan. Rather, copy your Photos library to an EHD and run it from there. When you are happy that all is well, delete the Photos library on your Mac's HD.

So where are these libraries to be found? Answer (usually) in Macintosh HD > Users > Your Name > Pictures >

They will be shown as: Photos Library.photoslibrary AND iPhoto Library.iphotolibrary

Does this help you understand what I think is going on and can you seek out these libraries on your Mac's HD and confirm their presence?

Then the choices begin!

Ian

Caiolentulo · May 10, 2018

Hi Ian
As you said the import of iPhoto into Photos was, in fact, a copy. I deleted the iPhoto library and regained those GB. I still have 2 Photos Library, see screenshot, but the system one is empty now while the one who was created to copy the iPhoto one is named "Photo 2". Is there a problem in keeping like this or should I have "Photo 2" turned into the system one? Does it make any difference in keeping like this? Once again thanks for the great help!
Andrea

IWT said:
Hello again, Andrea.

This is what I think the situation is:

You had an iPhoto library of around 682GB.

You migrated that into Photos which stands at 629GB plus close to 5GB.

Not quite sure why you two Photos Libraries, but I can explain the iPhoto situation.

When I did as you and imported my iPhoto library into the new Photos library, 2 things I noticed -

1. The new Photos library was, in GB, slightly less than that which had been in iPhoto. This can best be explained by the way the two apps work and perhaps in the change of file system too (HFS+ to APFS).

2. The import of iPhoto into Photos was, in fact, a copy - that is the images were copied from one to the other - not moved. And this applied to everyone. The iPhoto library remained and we all found out that, provided your new Photos library was intact and working, the iPhoto library could safely be deleted.

For those of a cautious mind, they moved, rather than deleted the iPhoto library, to an External Hard Drive (EHD). I deleted mine and regained all that space.

So you have a choice: move the iPhoto library to an EHD or delete it. Either way, around 682GB of space is recovered.

That leaves you with the new Photos library. Here again there are choices:

You can try moving selected pictures from it to an EHD - not my idea of a best plan. Rather, copy your Photos library to an EHD and run it from there. When you are happy that all is well, delete the Photos library on your Mac's HD.

So where are these libraries to be found? Answer (usually) in Macintosh HD > Users > Your Name > Pictures >

They will be shown as: Photos Library.photoslibrary AND iPhoto Library.iphotolibrary

Does this help you understand what I think is going on and can you seek out these libraries on your Mac's HD and confirm their presence?

Then the choices begin!

Ian

IWT · May 10, 2018

We are making progress! Well done.

What I would suggest is moving Photos 1 to an EHD - in case, just in case. Then delete it from the Mac.

This should leave you with one Photos library containing everything (called Photos 2) on your Mac and, if ever required (unlikely), a copy of Photos 1 (apparently empty) on an EHD.

Then from now on put all your new pictures in Photos 2.

Which I think is what you wanted - and you've gained a large amount of storage space back on your Mac.

I don't think I need to emphasise the essential need for you to backup your Mac regularly - Time Machine is easiest. A cloned backup such as Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! would be an additional and bootable means as well.

Any more questions or are you comfortable with your new setup?

Ian